The believer
Young Calder Bray believed.
The Dragon defensive lineman had watched Rockwall Heath’s
potent offense push around Southlake Carroll’s beleaguered defense all night.
He had watched his offensive teammates sputter and crash
against the Hawks’ stubborn defensive formations.
He had watched as he and his Dragons had dug in and hung on,
fighting back three times from 18-point deficits to seize finally, when hope
was all but lost, a razor-thin 36-35 lead with 3:20 left to play.
And now, with the clock ticking mercilessly toward zero, he watched
as Heath lined up to boot a 29-yard field goal to snatch an upset win over the
Dragons, who had hung 72 shameful points on the Hawks only last year.
Calder Bray watched and still he believed. He saw a chance,
a last-ditch, last-gasp, last-second chance to protect that meager, hard-won
lead and preserve sweet, glorious victory for his bruised and battered team.
“Coach,” the senior told Riley Dodge, “I can go get it.”
And he did.
Bursting through the line
As the Heath Hawk kicker – who already had seen one field
goal blocked and another disrupted by a bad snap – put his foot to the ball,
Calder Bray burst through a hole in the line and, with an outstretched hand,
batted it away. Game over. Dragons win.
Truth be told, this is one game most of us thought had got
away from the Dragons by the middle of the first half, when the sturdy Hawks
sprinted to a 21-3 lead.
Their stingy defense had smothered Carroll’s offensive
powerhouse on the ground and in the air, limiting it to a paltry 35-yard field
goal by Tyler White.
Hawk quarterback Josh
Hoover shredded the Carroll front, scoring at will over the reeling Dragons. He
ended the night with 344 passing yards, a 78 percent completion rate and 3
touchdowns.
Hawk running back Zach Evans was the Heath workhorse,
carrying 30 times for 156 yards and 2 TDs. Hoover’s favorite passing targets –
Jordan Nabors (4-161) and Fletcher Fierro (7-92) – had a TD apiece.
Dodge didn’t mince words after the final whistle.
“We didn’t play a good game tonight,” he told Dragon Radio.
“To be truthful, we were kind of shell-shocked. We were lucky to
be in the game, frankly.”
Gut-check time
Trailing 21-10 at the half, the young Dragons shuffled into the locker room,
where they faced gut-check time.
“It says a lot about our team that we completely reset at
halftime,” Dodge said. “That’s a lot to ask of 17- and 18-year-olds – to
completely reset the game plan. But they did it. We fixed the problems in the
second half.
“We cowboyed up.”
The high-scoring third quarter was the key battleground.
Hoover and company continued to rough up the Dragon D, while Anderson and his
offensive brethren climbed out of the hole Carroll carved for itself in the
first half.
Ultimately – and decisively, as it turned out – the Dragons
outscored the Hawks 20-14 in that crucial period and entered the 4th
trailing by only 5.
An exultant Calder, hero of the hour, told Dragon Radio that
Dodge urged his charges not to give up, that despite the score, victory was
possible.
“He kept saying that we weren’t playing well and they were
still only X-number of points ahead,” Calder recalled breathlessly. “He said we
could still win. So we weathered the storm. We kept pushing away, pushing away
and waiting for something to happen.”
The decision was made at half, he said, to platoon the
defensive line regularly in order to keep “fresh legs on the ground.” That very
well could have made the difference in a game of such narrow margins.
Dragon quarterback Kaden Anderson, in only his second game as a starter, didn’t panic under the Heath onslaught. He remained steady and patient, finally connecting with leading receiver Landon Samson (8-153, 2 TDs) on a 72-yard scoring play in the second quarter.
Anderson (21 for 117 yards, 3 TDs), began Carroll’s second-half
renaissance with a 3-yard dash to the end zone and followed later with a second
TD pass to Samson, a South Carolina commit.
Standout running back Owen Allen (21 carries for 117 rushing
yards) contributed to Carroll’s 3rd quarter heroics, staging a TD
run that narrowed the Hawk margin to 35-30.
Later, in the final period, he played a dominant role in the
Dragons’ most important drive of the night.
After Heath’s second flubbed field goal, the Dragons took
over at their own 15 with about 7 minutes left in the game. Anderson moved them
to their 26 before being sacked on successive plays. On a 3rd and 12
from the 24, the Heath D-line stopped Allen cold.
Now facing a 4th and 13 from the Dragon 23, Dodge
and his staff knew this was probably Carroll’s last offensive play. Turning
over the ball willingly was unthinkable.
So they gambled big, instructing Anderson to send a screen
pass to a sprinting Allen, who rumbled 56 yards deep into Hawk territory. (He
was credited with 112 passing yards for the night.)
Back-to-back penalties against the Hawks pushed the Dragons
to the Heath 3. That’s where Allen handed the Dragons their first lead of the
night by skittering across the goal line.
Tough as nails
Dodge paid tribute to his junior phenom’s commitment and
skill.
“He’s tough as nails,” the coach said of Allen. “There’s not
another running back in the state that I’d rather have on this team.”
But last night’s stunning final act was yet to be played.
After receiving the Dragon kickoff, the Hawks roared
downfield in four plays to the Dragon 12 where they let the clock run down to 3
seconds.
That’s when the young Calder saw his chance as the Heath offensive
line settled into place.
“When we lined up, I saw an opening and thought I could
squeeze through,” Bray told The Dallas Morning News’ Randy Jennings.
His final judgment to Dragon Radio: “It worked out great!”
The road ahead
The Dragons now stand at 2-0. They face another stout pre-district
challenge next week, traveling to Prosper to meet the high-flying Eagles, 1-0.
After whipping up on South Grand Prairie 34-19 last week, the Eagles face
Mansfield Lake Ridge tonight.
The Dragons’ pre-district schedule is a rough one, made deliberately so by the Carroll coaching staff to prepare its charges for the postseason.
The Dragons are the odds-on favorites to win District 4-6A this year, even
though it may be a tougher nut to crack than in previous years.
But it’s hardly a powerhouse, and so the Dragons must
sharpen their claws where and when they can. And a pre-district schedule that
started with Highland Park and includes both Prosper and Arlington Martin is a
good way to do so.
A tight win against a sturdy team like Heath is likely to give
Carroll players increased confidence. They looked into the abyss last night, relied on their teammates and coaches and emerged stronger than ever. So far,
so good.
Go Dragons!
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